TOP RUSSEL & MICHELLE GOH
Top Russel is the executive chef at Freebird, a restaurant that’s been serving dishes from Down Under and received a Michelin Plate designation. His partner, Michelle Goh, is from Malaysia and is a pastry chef at the one Michelin-starred restaurant Sühring. Obviously, their foodie rep is legit.
How did you guys meet? We met in Singapore while working at Pollen. We barely spoke for the first six months. After a while we were forced to talk to each other and ended up liking each other’s company more than expected.
Which restaurant(s) do you frequent? For Thai food, we always go to Sri Trat or get takeaway from Jeh O. We also enjoy going to Daimasu for Japanese BBQ. Our guilty pleasure would have to be Pepper Lunch or MK duck.
What’s a ‘date night’ like in Bangkok? We don’t really go out at night as we are quite a stay-at-home couple. But we usually have one day a week where we spend time with each other. We tend to café hop, going from one place to another on our sh**ty scooter. A typical date night for us would usually consist of cooking something nice at home then watching a movie.
Is there a food that one of you likes but the other despises? Top absolutely loves Thai chicken rice. He could have it three times a day, seven days a week. I, on the other hand, don’t really consider it chicken rice as I grew up in Malaysia and the chicken rice there is different compared to Bangkok.
Name a dish that you both fell in love with. Where did you have it? The giant bowl of Mama noodles from Jeh O. Top was so judgemental of people queuing up for hours just to have instant noodles. This was until I forced him to try it. Now we both willingly queue up for an hour for it (must have their crispy pork).
Any recommendations on what to do or where to go this Valentine’s Day? Even though we live in a very materialistic society and city, celebrating with your loved one shouldn’t necessarily cost your months’ paycheck. We find it romantic to cook at home even if it’s the simplest of dishes, it’s the effort that counts. Also, there’s nothing more romantic than cooking together. If you are willing to splash out, we would recommend fine dining restaurants such as Le Normandie and Sühring, where you’ll get the extra fine service, pampered with luxurious ingredients and fine wine.